The No. 4 Red Rocks beat rival BYU 196.975 to 195.325 in a hotly contested matchup Friday night at the Marriott Center in Provo.
This was the third meet in eight days for the Red Rocks. Head coach Carly Dockendorf was happy with her team’s performance overall.
“I thought they did an excellent job of just bringing good focus, good energy and good attitude. For them to keep that mindset for three meets in a row, in a week, I think is huge,” Dockendorf said. “I also feel like the quality of their gymnastics tonight was excellent. It just shows their conditioning and fitness, and where they’re at, to be able to do that this early in the season.”
The Red Rocks started on the bars and scored a 49.250 overall. Ella Zirbes, a standout on the bars for Utah, executed a difficult routine and scored a 9.875. Grace McCallum won the event for the Red Rocks with a 9.925. McCallum continued to show that she’s the one of the best in the country, ranking second overall with an average score 9.940. Utah led 49.250 to 48.775 after the first rotation.
Utah scored a 49.200 on the vault during the second rotation. Camie Winger matched her season high with a 9.875. Fresh off her Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, Makenna Smith scored a 9.900 to win the event for the Red Rocks. After the second rotation Utah led 98.450 to 97.325 over BYU.
“I thought our meet was great tonight, I think everybody did a beautiful job, just really make slow steady progress,” McCallum said. “I know the scores didn’t necessarily reflect that, but that’s out of our control. I think we should walk away from this meet really proud of the work we put out on the floor tonight.”
The third rotation the Red Rocks scored a 49.175 on the floor. Smith opened the scoring for Utah with a 9.850. The Red Rocks then had three consecutive 9.800 scores from Winger, Ashley Glynn and Jaylene Gilstrap. McCallum scored a 9.900 to win the event for the Red Rocks. Anchor Sarah Krump scored a 9.825 to round out the rotation. The Red Rocks led 147.625 to 146.300 over BYU going into the last rotation.
The Red Rocks would dominate the beam scoring 49.350 in the fourth rotation. Coming into the match Utah was fifth in the nation with an average score of 49.300, proving their status as one of the best. McCallum scored a 9.925 to win the event for Utah. Winger and Smith both scored a 9.875. Utah would win the meet with a final score of 196.975 to 195.325 over BYU.
The Red Rocks had a tie in the all-around with McCallum and Smith both scoring 39.425. The two shared a laugh at just how remarkable the feat was.
“The chances of us tying, there’s just so many small little things, it’s just so crazy,” McCallum said.
McCallum (20) and Makenna Smith (T24) came into the meet top 25 in the nation in the all-around. Smith also enjoyed the moment with her teammate on their tying scores.
“I think we were just really excited because it was cool,” Smith said. “Especially since we both have very different routines so it was really fun.”
The Red Rocks will get some much needed rest before they head out to West Virginia to face the Mountaineers and the No. 2 Florida Gators on Feb. 2.
